How does the fianza Fund work?

The Fianza fund is a revolving, nonprofit bond fund

Unfortunately, we receive far more requests for bond help than we can afford. When we receive an inquiry, we take the following steps before we decide if we can help:

Complete an application: we cannot post a bond without full information. This includes speaking to the detained person, their family members, sponsors, or legal advisors.

Determine if the bond meets our eligibility criteria: We only post bonds for people detained in the El Paso ICE Field Office area (covering all of New Mexico and Far West Texas). We are currently only able to contribute up to $6000 to any bond we post, if we have enough money in the fund.

Consider each case holistically: We consider numerous factors in each request we receive, including access to ongoing legal services and strong community/family support, connection to the local region, and characteristics that may make a person especially vulnerable to abuse or isolation both in and outside detention (e.g. LGBTQ, people of color, history of organizing in detention). We make every attempt to connect individuals without strong support networks to partner organizations and people who can support them after release, because we want the people we help bond out to thrive.

Post the bond, support each other, and recirculate the money! When we post a bond,